Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold inched down 0.1% to close under $1,588 despite sharp downturns in stocks and the dollar as traders took profits from two straight months of gains. The metal closed the week 0.6% higher to gain 3.8% for the month.

The escalating threat of a pandemic rattled markets again after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency. The US moved to deny entry for foreign nationals who recently visited China and quarantine Americans returning from mainland China.

With numbers rapidly climbing, nearly 10,000 cases have been documented, and more than 200 deaths have occurred in China.

Wall Street tumbled on the growing threat, with the Dow losing 2.1% and the S&P 500 1.8%. Government bonds continued to rally on flights to safety, with yields on benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes dropping near a 3-month low just above 1.5%.

The dollar fell 0.5% against major rivals as safe-haven currencies like the yen and Swiss franc rallied further. A weaker buck supports gold and other commodities by making them less expensive overseas.

Soft US economic data added to the risk-off sentiment. The Chicago PMI showed Midwest manufacturing contracted for the seventh month, falling to the lowest level since December 2015. Meanwhile, consumer spending posted the smallest annual gain in three years and wage growth slowed in 2019, according to the BLS, suggesting weaker GDP growth ahead.

The other precious metals were mixed for the day and month. Silver picked up 0.1% today and 0.5% in January. Platinum fell 1.9% today and 1.6% this month. Palladium added 0.4% for a whopping 16.5% monthly gain.

At the Comex close: April gold dipped $1.30 to $1,587.90; March silver picked up 2 cents to $18.01; April platinum dropped $18.60 to $961.90; and March palladium added $9, to $2,224.70 an ounce.